1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a framing jig, and more particularly to a framing jig for clamping a plurality of wooden members or the like into a predetermined relationship with one another.
2. The Prior Art
During the construction of wood frame buildings, numerous framing subassemblies such as headers, window jambs, door jambs, partition blocks, corner blocks, or the like must be fabricated. A window header, for example, is commonly fabricated by nailing together a pair of 2.times.6 wooden members to form a 4.times.6 header, a pair of 2.times.8s to form a 4.times.8 header, or a pair of 2.times.12s to form a 4.times.12 header. These wooden members must be held in precise parallel, transverse and longitudinal alignment with one another while they are being nailed together, but it is a clumsy and time-consuming chore to hold them manually while simultaneously nailing them. Power driven header fabricating machines have been developed but are expensive and too bulky to take to a construction site. Accordingly there is a need for a simple, inexpensive way to hold a plurality of wooden members or the like in alignment with each other for fabrication into subassemblies for use in the construction of buildings.
Although several different clamping devices are known to the art, none is suitable for clamping wooden members together for fabrication into subassemblies for buildings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 24,102, issued to Cryer, discloses a work bench that clamps a work piece for jointing and squaring; U.S. Pat. No. 1,011,805, issued to Jones, discloses apparatus that clamps a workpiece onto a worktable; U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,236,439, issued to McKenna, and 3,743,566, issued to Louthan et al., disclose lever actuated clamps; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,304, issued to Pettican, discloses a workbench having a three part vice. None of these devices is capable of clamping a plurality of members in the required three-way alignment for fabrication into a subassembly for use in the construction of buildings, and hence there is still a need for a simple, inexpensive way to fabricate subassemblies such as headers. The present invention satisfies this need.